Machines for binding sheets of material



Aug. 4, 1959 E. JLSHAPIRO MACHINES FOR BINDING SHEETS OF MATERIAL Filed April 19, 1956 \Tl l gjjll lllll ml x7 2 h K P a d ,a/al a Q h 3 o; 64 I U1, .4 W m w z w 3 Am a . 'INVENTOR. ERVING J. SHAPIRO ATTORNEYS States This invention relates to machines for binding sheets of material together, and more specifically, to machines for securing such sheets together by means of clips which frictionally hold the sheets without perforating the same.

The primary object of my invention is to enable sheets to be secured together in a novel and expeditious manner.

Another object of my invention is to enable novel clips to be applied to sheets in a novel and expeditious manner.

An object ancillary to the foregoing is to enable such clips to be so applied by a machine.

A further object of my invention is to enable wire clips to be applied to stacks of sheets in a novel and expeditious manner so as to effectively clamp such sheets in stacked relation Without piercing any of the sheets.

Another object of my invention is to enable novel wire clips to be formed around the edge portion of a stack of sheets in a novel and expeditious manner.

Yet another object of my invention is to enable novel wire clips to be formed in a novel and expeditious manner from a supply of individual pieces of wire which may be arranged in compact relation to each other.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying these principles. Other embodiments of the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a machine which is constructed, and is operable, in accordance with the principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 in Fig. 1 but omitting the spring 61;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view taken substantially along the line 33 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5A is a perspective view of a supply of clipforming members adapted to be mounted in the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5B is a top plan view of a clip formed in accordance with the principles of my invention;

Fig. 5C is a side elevational view of the clip shown in Fig. 5B, showing the clip mounted in operative position on a stack of sheets to be held together; and

Fig. 6 is a detail plan view, similar to Fig. 3, but showing a clip attached to a stack of papers.

A clip-applying machine 10, embodying the principles of my invention, is shown in the drawings to illustrate the preferred embodiment of my invention.

The machine 10 embodies, in general, Fig. 1, an elongated base 12 having an elongated clip magazine 14 pivotally mounted thereon, the magazine 14 having a 2,897,504 Patented Aug. 4, 1959 ice head 16 mounted on the front end thereof in overlying position to an anvil 18 mounted on the front end portion of the base 12.

The base 12 may be made of any suitable material such as, for example, steel, and the anvil 18 is preferably mounted in a recess 19 in the front end portion of the base 12, and secured therein by suitable means such as screws 21, Fig. 3. A substantially straight elongated groove or recess 23, having an inwardly and downwardly sloping end portion 23a and two substantially straight parallel side walls 23b and 23c is formed in the upper face of the anvil 18, and extends thereacross at an acute angle to the length of the base 12, in position to dispose the end portion 23a forwardly of the other end portion of the recess 23, Fig. 3.

The magazine of the machine 10 includes a substantially straight elongated rail 25 having two side walls 26 and 27, a top wall 28 and a bottom wall 29, Figs. 2 and 4. The top and bottom walls 28 and 29 are disposed in substantially horizontally disposed position and the side wall 26 is preferably substantially straight and is disposed in vertical position between the top wall 28 and the bottom wall 29. The side wall 27 has an inwardly recessed upper end portion 27a, and an outwardly projecting lower end portion 2712 (Figs. 2 and 4).

A hood 31, comprising two elongated substantially inverted L-shaped angle members 33 and 34, is mounted on the rail 25. Each of the angle members 33 and 34 embodies a horizontally disposed top flange 33a and 34a, and a substantially vertically disposed lower flange 33b and 34b, respectively. The flanges 33b and 34b are secured in juxtaposition to the side wall 26 and the lower end portion 27b of the side wall 27, respectively, by suitable means such as welding, in position wherein the upper flanges 33a and 34a project inwardly toward each other in upwardly spaced relation to the top wall 28 of the rail 25. The inner edges of the upper flanges 33a and 34a terminate in spaced relation to each other to afford an elongated straight trackway 35 therebetween, Figs. 2 and 4. With this construction it will be seen that the hood 31 is disposed in spaced relation to the top wall 28 and the upper end portion 27a of the side wall 27 of the rail 25 to thereby afford a channel or guide slot 36 therebetween which is substantially of inverted L-shaped cross section, and which includes an upper horizontal section 3611, a long vertical section 36v depending at one end of the section 36h, and a short vertical section 36sv depending at the other end of the horizontal section 36h.

The front ends of the rail 25 and the hood 31 terminate in the same vertical plane, but the rear end portion of the rail 25 projects rearwardly from the hood 31, Fig. l, to facilitate the insertion of clip-forming members into the magazine 14, as will be discussed in greater detail presently.

The rear end portion of the magazine 14 is pivotally mounted on two brackets 38 and 39 projecting upwardly from the rear end portion of the base 12, a pin 41 projecting through the brackets 38 and 39, the rear end portion of the hood 31, and the rear end portion of the rail 25, below the recess 27a, for this purpose, Figs. 1 and 4.

A compression coil spring 43 is mounted in a recess 44 formed in the lower face of the rear end portion of the rail 25, forwardly of the brackets 38 and 39, and is disposed in abutting engagement with the upper face of the base 12 to thereby yieldingly urge the magazine 14 to turn in a counterclockwise direction around the pin 41, as viewed in Fig. l, and normally hold the head 16 and the front end portion of the magazine 14 in raised position relative to the anvil 18 and the front end portion of the base 12.

The head 16 mounted on the front end portion of the magazine 14 embodies atop wall 51 from which depends two. substantially parallel side walls 52. and 53, and .a front wall 54interconnecting the front edge'portions of the side walls 52 and 53. The head 16 is-mounted on the frontend portion of the magazine14, with theside walls 52 and 53 of the head 16 disposed in juxtaposition to the lower flanges 33b and 34b of the hood 31, and with the front wall 54 of the head 16 disposed in forwardly spaced relation to the front ends of the hood 31 and the rail 25 to thereby afford a substantially rectangularshaped channel 54a therebetween. The head 16 may be secured in thisposition by suitable means such as rivets 55 extending through the side walls 52 and 53 and the frontend portions of the hood 31 and the rail 25.

A plurality of substantially inverted L-shaped clipforming members 56, Figs. 1 and 5A, made of suitable material such as, for example, steel wire, may be mounted in the channel 36 in the magazine 14 for movement forwardly therealong to the front end of the machine 10, where they may be successively ejected downwardly through the channel 54a, as will be discussed in greater detail presently.

The members 56 have two elongated legs 56:: and 56b which are so positioned relative to each other, that when the members 56 are disposed in the channel 36, the legs 56a thereof may be disposed between the top side 28 V of the rail and the upper flanges 33a and 34a of the hood 31, and the legs 56b thereof may be disposed between the lower flange 34b of the hood 31 and the upper portion 27a of the side wall 27 of the rail 25. The members 56 are of such size that they fitrelatively snugly in the channel 36, but are freely slidable therealong. The legs 56b of the members 56 are preferably slightly shorter than the legs 56a thereof but terminate at their lower ends in upwardly spaced relation to the outwardly projecting lower edge portion 27b of the side wall 27 of the rail 25, when the members 56 are mounted in the channel 36, Fig. 2. Each member 56 at one end includes a relatively short lip 56L, Fig. 2, extended generally in the plane of the leg 56b, and is adapted to ride in a guide slot of the member 25 opposite the guide slot 36 in which the leg 56b rides.

The insertion of the clip-forming members 56 into the channel 36 may be readily accomplished by placing the members 56 on the rear end portion of the rail 25, rearwardly of the hood 31, and then sliding the members 56 forwardly into the channel 36. Although individual members 56 may be used in this manner, I prefer to have the member 56, to be inserted in my machine, disposed in groups of pre-stacked members 56, such as shown in Fig. 5A, with the adjacent members 56 attached to each other by readily frangible material such as a thin layer of shellac, or the like.

An elongated slide 46 is provided in. my machine 10 for pushing the members 56 along the channel 36. The slide 46 is substantially L-shaped in cross section, and has two parallel ears 47a and 47b projecting upwardly therefrom, Figsl and 4. The slide is of such size and shape that it may be mounted on the rear end portion of the rail 25 and advanced forwardly therealong through the channel 36, with the ears 47a and 47b sliding forwardly through the trackway 35 between the flanges 33a and 34a of the hood 31.

An elongated tension coil spring 61 is secured at one end to the head 16 by a pin 63 extending between the side walls 52 and 53, Fig. 1. A cross-arm 66 is attached to the other end of the coil spring 61 and, when the slide 46 is mounted in the channel 36, the spring 61 may be stretched rearwardly between the ears 47a and 47b and releasably secured thereto by disposing the cross arm 66 in abutting engagement with'the rear edge portions of the ears 47a and 47b, Figs. 1 and 2.

The spring 61 is effective to yieldingly urge the slide 46 forwardly on the rail 25 to thereby urge the stack of 4 members 56 in the channel 36 forwardly toward the front wall 54 of the head 16.

The width of the channel 54a, between the front end of the magazine 14 and rear face of the front wall 54 of the head 16, is such that a clip-forming member 56 which has been moved along the rail 25 into vertical alignment with the channel 54a will not fall by its own weight downwardly through the latter, but may be pushed downwardly therethrough with a relatively light pressure thereon, the sides of the channel 54a engaging the sides of the member 56 with a relatively snug sliding fit during such movement.

An elongated plunger 71 having a flat lower end portion 71a, which is slightly smaller in cross section than the opening 54a, is slidably mounted 'between a bracket 73 and the front Wall 54 of the head 16 for vertical reciprocation therein. An enlarged head or button 75 is mounted on the upper end portion of the plunger 71, and a compression coil spring 77 is disposed between the button 75 and the top wall 51 of the slide 16. The plunger 71 is so disposed in the head 16 that the lower end portion 71:: thereof is normally disposed above the rail 25 and the hood 31, but, by the application of downward pressure on the button 75, the plunger 71 may be moved downwardly in a vertical plane so as to move the lower end portion 71a thereof downwardly through the opening 54a into outwardly projecting relation to the lower faces of the rail 25 and the hood 31. During such downward movement of the plunger 71, the lower end portion 71a thereof is effective to push the front one of the clip-forming members 56 on the rail 25 downwardly in the same plane in which the plunger 71 moves and through the slot 54a.

The anvil 18 is so disposed on the base 12 that when a clip forming member 56 is so moved by the plunger 71, the lower end portion of the vertical leg 56b thereof is moved into abutting engagement with the end portion 23a of the groove 23. This end portion of the groove 23 is aligned in the plane in which the plunger 71, and the member 56 driven thereby, moves, but the remainder of the groove 23 is angled out of this plane. As the plunger 71 continues to move downwardly the leg 56a of the front member 56 is moved downwardly in substantially horizontal disposed position, and is held from turning laterally by the snug engagement in the slot 541:. The inwardly sloping end portion 23a of the slot 23 cams the lower end portion of the leg 56b inwardly and as the plunger 71 continues to move downwardly, the lower end portion of the leg 56b moves along the slot 23 in engagement with the side wall 320 thereof so that it is moved inwardly under, and transversely across, the leg 56a. During this operation, the plunger 71 so compresses the clip-forming member 56 against the anvil 18 with sufficient force that the legs 56a and 56b thereof are bent take a permanent set in the aforementioned overlapped position.

Thus it will be seen that in the operation of my novel machine 10, a substantially loop shaped clip C, Figs. 53, 5C and 6, is formed by the downward movement of the plunger 71 toward the anvil 18, the leg 56a of the clip C extending substantially perpendicularly to the length of the base 12 of the machine, and the underlying leg 56b being disposed thereacross at an acute angle thereto.

In the operation of my novel machine, papers P, or like sheets of material may be disposed on the base 12 in stacked relation, in position to cover all of the slot 23 except the end portion 23a thereof, and with the edge of the stack of sheets which it is desired to secure together preferably disposed in parallel relation to the length of the base 12, as shown in Fig. 6. Hence, it will be seen that when the plunger 71 is moved downwardly, the lower end portion of the leg 56b of the front member 56 in the magazine 14 is moved into engagement with the end portion 23a of the slot 23, and as the leg 56a is moved downwardly by the plunger 71 toward 7 longitudinal t3 a juxtaposition with the upper face of the top paper in the stack, the leg 56b moves along the slot 23 under the stack of papers so that when the downward movement of the plunger 71 is completed, the clip forming member has been deformed into the aforementioned clip C with the leg 56a thereof disposed in overlying relation to the stack of sheets, and the leg 56!; disposed in underlying relation thereto. The lip 56L in most instances will be merely crushed or bent over but may actually dent the stack of sheets depending upon the thickness thereof.

If desired, upwardly projecting paper stops such as lugs 81 may be afforded on the upper face of the base 12, in such position that the edge of the stack of sheets may be moved laterally across the base 12 into engagement with the lugs 81 in which position the stack of sheets is stopped in the aforementioned operative position wherein the papers cover all of the slot 23 except the end portion 23a thereof. Slots 81a may be formed in the bottom face of the rail 35 to receive the lugs 81 projecting upwardly from the base 12 rearwardly of the front end of the rail 25, during the downward movement of the magazine 14, in a clip applying operation of my machine.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have enabled novel fastening members, in the form of clips, to be applied in securing relation to sheets of material in a novel and expeditious manner.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A machine for fastening sheets of material together in a stack comprising a supporting member on which marginal edge portions of saidsheets can be placed, means for supporting a substantially inverted L-shaped sheet fastener having a substantially horizontal leg and a substantially vertical leg having a free end above said supporting member, means movable in a vertical plane for moving such an inverted L-shaped fastener downwardly from said first mentioned means in said plane and onto said supporting member, a single clinching groove provided on said supporting member and disposed at an angle relative to said plane for moving said vertical leg into transversely underlying relation to said horizontal leg during said downward movement of said inverted L- shaped member to clamp together inner edge portions of sheets on said supporting member, said groove including a cam portion at one end aligned in said plane and initially engageable by the free end of said vertical leg during commencement of transverse movement thereof, and sheet aligning means on said supporting member to locate the inner edges of said sheets to be clamped in spaced relation to said cam portion to enable the free end of said vertical leg to clear the inner edge portions of the sheets to be clamped without penetrating the sheets.

2. In a machine for fastening sheets of material together in a stack, the combination of a supporting member having an area for receiving the edge portion of such a stack thereon, means for supporting a plurality of substantially inverted L-shaped sheet fasteners disposed in side-by-side relation to each other and in substantially upright position above said supporting member with a first leg thereof disposed vertically and a second leg thereof disposed horizontally, a single elongated clinching groove provided on said support member and arranged to extend at an-angle relative to said second leg of a fastener disposed as aforesaid, said groove including a cam portion at one end engageable by an end of the first leg of the fastener and configured to direct the first leg of the fastener inwardly along the path defined by said groove and at an angle to the second leg of the fastener, means movable in a vertical plane for forcing individual ones of said fasteners downwardly into engagement with said cam portion so as to thereby cause the first leg of said fastener to move along said groove and into transversely underlying relation to the second leg of said fastener to clamp sheets on said support about the inner edges thereof, said groove being disposed at an angle relative to said vertical plane and said cam portion being aligned in said plane, and aligning means for said sheets inwardly of said cam portion to position the sheets with the inner edge portions thereof to be clamped above said groove and clear of said cam portion.

3. In a machine for fastening a stack of sheets of material together by a fastener clamped about edge portions thereof, the combination of a supporting member for a fastener having two elongated legs, said legs being connected at their adjacent ends in substantially perpendicular relation to each other and disposable on said supporting member with one of said legs in substantially vertically extending position and the other of said legs projecting substantially horizontally from the upper end of said one leg, a plunger movable in a vertical plane for applying a downward force to said other leg to move the fastener downward in said plane, an anvil on which said sheets can be positioned, and means arranged in a fixed position on said anvil below said supporting member and defining a single clinching groove engageable by the free lower end of said one leg and extended at an angle to said plane to bend said one leg into underlying relation to said other leg in transverse relation thereto upon a downward force applied to said other leg by said plunger.

4. In a machine for fastening a stack of sheets of material together, the combination of a supporting member for a fastener having two elongated legs, said legs being connected at adjacent ends in substantially perpendicular relation to each other and disposable on said supporting member so that one of said legs is disposed in substantially vertically extending position and the other of said legs projects substantially horizontally from the upper end of said one leg, a plunger arranged for movement in a vertical plane and having a flat free edge engageable with said other leg for moving said fastener downwardly in said plane from said supporting member, an anvil below said supporting member and on which the sheets can be positioned, a single fixed clinching groove provided on said anvil and arranged at an angle relative to the plane in which said plunger moves, and said groove having a cam surface at the inner end thereof and which cam surface is aligned in said plane so as to be initially engageable by the free end of said one leg and which is configured to bend the one leg inwardly along said groove during said downward movement of said fastener in said plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,073,958 Crosby Mar. 16, 1937 2,087,779 Pankonin July 20, 1937 2,202,905 Goodstein June 4, 1940 2,405,421 Guyon Aug. 6, 1946 2,709,809 Bruggmann June 7, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 930,844 Germany Aug. 16, 1955 

